Thief and Murderer
by Angie Child
Summary: Everyone has turned up to watch Kaitou Kid's heist, even Heiji and Kazuha from Osaka. But somehow, a gruesome murder occured at the scene...and Kid is framed for it! Of course, Kid wasn't going to let it... [Part 9 added!]
1. Part 1

Author's Note: _This story is converted from an RPG 'Thief and Murderer' that was played out in 'Only One Truth: A Detective Conan RPG' LiveJournal Community. Note that there are changes made such as deleting unimportant parts, changing a few things or adding more stuffs. I played Kaitou and Heiji. Credits go to Mona (LJ goodbyekitty) temporarily as Conan (other times played out by others after she quitted), LJ rabidbunny as Sonoko and Ai, LJ mariata as Kazuha and most of the time Conan, LJ sailorgreeny as Elizabeth Green (original character), LJ vikki as Ran (most of the time), LJ phantomkaito as Christie Poe (original character), LJ mingyi as Jodie, Akako and sometimes Hakuba, and last but not least, LJ lizfushia as Renee Thomas (original character). Thank you all for your participation, it has been great fun! :)_

**PART 1**

"Kid is in the lobby, hurry!"

Kaitou Kid jumped down from the ceiling after all the officers had run out of the room, leaving the diamond necklace unguarded. "They always fall for the same old trick. When will they learn?" he muttered, opening the case. He peered at the necklace. "They say this thing is cursed, and anyone who wears it will die...but that's just a superstition. Besides, no one said I'll die if I touch it instead of wearing it. It's mine." He grinned as he picked up the necklace and admired it.

---

It was not a good day for the local police. Kid had been leading them in circles throughout the entire thing, always with that stupid smirk on his face. The Detective of the West had shown up, and of course taken charge, plus he ha that scarily observant little boy that hung around Mouri.

All in all, Nakamori-keibu did not need the young teen standing a few feet away from him declaring her eternal love for the white clad thief, waving a banner that read 'Long Live Kaitou Kid'.

Christie Poe was psyched. Kid was in the building scant feet in front of her. It thrilled her to be this close to him, even if it were only as part of a crowd. Her eyes kept moving, trying to watch the roof and all windows, hoping to catch the Kid's sure-to-be-flamboyant exit.

Inside, Hattori Heiji came to a stop to see all the officers running into the lobby. "Hey, what are you doing here? Aren't you guarding the necklace?" he demanded.

"We heard the Inspector calling us," one of the officers said. "He said Kid is here."

Heiji was dumbstruck. "Uh oh. I think we got some problem, Kudo. Kudo?" He looked around, but the little boy was gone.

Meanwhile, Kid had put the case back. "Easy," he said happily as he headed for the window.

"FREEZE!" Kid turned in surprise as Edogawa Conan burst into the room, a smile on his face. He looked quite victorious. "I've long figured out your puzzle, Kid," he said, striding in calmly. "You won't escape this time."

Kid smiled, pocketing the jewel. "Oh, really? What makes you so sure?" He took out his gun and fired a card. It touched the floor in front of Conan and exploded. As smoke filled the room, Kid jumped onto the window sill, popping out his hang glider. "See you, Tantei-kun," he laughed as he prepared to jump.

Just as he did, he heard something crack above him. He looked up and saw his hang glider broke. Something had struck it---and it came from Conan, who had gotten a soccer ball out of nowhere and kicked it. "Uh oh," he muttered. Luckily, he was on the second floor. He fell into the crowd that was screaming. He landed on some people, but it was still painful when his knees hit the hard pavement. He heard a shriek above him, and looked up to see who it was.

Mouri Ran, who had come to the event with Conan (and was currently searching for him), was the one who shrieked as Kaitou Kid landed practically at her feet, and backpedaled. "Oh my gosh!" she gasped---and froze, unable to react. He seemed to be like a familiar memory---like she had seen his face before...

_No, silly, there's no way Shinichi is Kid!_ She thought to herself in amused horror, shaking her head violently.

Meanwhile, Conan cursed as Kid's hang glider disappeared into the crowd of his fans. Now he was lost for sure, since Kid could whip up a disguise in an instance and join the crowd in a minute as just another innocent face. He tried to see where Kid had landed. _Come on, Kudo, it's a WHITE glider; it can't be that hard to find!_ Then he was rewarded with a flash of light color. He squinted down at the blob of white.

He saw Ran. She glanced up for a moment, and he could recognize that face from a mile up.

_Not good!_ Conan panicked, and skittered backwards, away from the window in fear that she would happen to look up and see him. It was too late for Kid---he had to try to get to an innocent-seeming location before Ran had any reason to be suspicious. He scrambled for the stairs.

---

"Kid is in the crowd!" an officer shouted, bursting into the lobby.

When he heard the news, Nakamori-keibu was enraged. "After him!" he roared. Heiji, who was there, abandoned looking for Conan and sped out before the rest of the officers, determined to catch Kid first.

Meanwhile, Kid quickly scrambled up to his feet and flashed his famous charming smile at Ran. "Excuse me, miss," he said in a grown-up way, taking her hand and kissing the back of it lightly. Ran blushed. "Sorry to have frightened you. Farewell now."

Smoke burst out of nowhere, covering part of the crowd. Kid took this opportunity to escape. _Easy!_ he thought with glee. _They'll never find me in this crowd. Now if I could just---_

"Ouch!" He cringed as something sharp brushed into his hand. He pulled away, and the first he saw was blood. "Wha---"He stumbled back in slight shock, and bumped into someone. He looked around and recognized the girl who had once tried to follow him. If he wasn't wrong, her name was Christie Poe from a time he heard her friend calling her.

Christie's eyes widened as she saw a bloody knife in Kid's hand. Immediately, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the crowd. _I'm touching him!_ she thought gleefully for a second. She knew her precious Kid would never hurt anyone. Someone was trying to frame him, and she would be furious if she let one of those detectives lay a handcuff on _her_ thief. Apparently, she would even believe he was framed even if Kid were to stab someone in front of her eyes.

"W-wait, I didn't do anything!" Kid exclaimed as he quickly tossed the knife down. He didn't know who had shoved the knife into his hand. He winced, and noticed that he had a small wound in his hand---probably cut when he took hold of the knife.

"Excuse me, Miss Poe, but you have made a big mistake! That wasn't mine!" Without anymore hesitation, he grabbed Christie's shoulder and turned her around so she was facing him. He quickly put on his charm. "Trust me, I'm a thief, not a murderer," he said in concern. "Will you please let me go? I'll be all right."

Suddenly, someone screamed. Heiji, who was already among the crowd and was searching for Kid, turned around to see a lady stumbling away from the fountain in shock. He ran to it. He halted in horror when he saw the fountain drenched in blood---and a body.


	2. Part 2

**Part 2**

"Don't panic, everyone!" Heiji shouted as he crouched near the fountain and peered into it. "Someone get the police, hurry!"

_What's taking Kudo so long?_ he wondered as he pulled up the sleeves of his jacket. The fountain had started to spray bloody water out, and it was a horrible sight. _This is so cruel_, he thought bitterly. _Who would kill someone and toss him into this fountain with so many people around here? Of course, their attentions were all on Kid...where's Kid anyway?_ he suddenly remembered.

---

Tohyama Kazuha stood by a lamp post, positively miffed. She did not know where Heiji was, she was alone and she was...annoyed. Not angry, but annoyed. That was the only way she could describe it.

"That idiot...he left me alone _again_..." she muttered, absently pressing the buttons on her phone. She knew that there was a Kid heist---that was why the people were so frantic to cheer the thief on, waving their signs and whatnot. But suddenly, there was a piercing scream. Kazuha froze.

The crowd kept chanting. However, some of the people had scattered in disorientation.

She ran into the crowd without any second thought.

"Maaann, can't these people move?! Excuse me!" Kazuha repeated, for the---who knows, the zillionth time? Slipping gratefully through the now more loosely knit crowd, her eyes searched for the one she was looking for. Then she spotted him.

"Heiji!" she called, dashing towards him. Then she froze---yet again.

"Wh-what happened?" she asked, biting her tongue. Warily, she stepped closer, trying not to look too closely at the corpse.

Heiji turned to see Kazuha right behind him. "Someone was murdered. Don't look if you can't take it," he told her as-a-matter-of-factly. "I don't want to deal with a sick girl tonight."

"Who said I was going to get sick?" Kazuha bit back, annoyed.

Heiji ignored her. He tried to peer through the bloody water at the corpse. The clothes looked torn from slashes of a knife. That was obviously how the murder was committed. _Where's that annoying Inspector? He should be here instead of looking for Kid, this is a more serious situation!_ he thought with a frown. "Kazuha, will you get the police? And find Ku---I mean, Conan-kun and Ran-chan too."

Kazuha did what he told her to do. She dashed back off into the crowd, dialing for the police on her cell phone, eyes searching for any trace of Ran and of course, Conan. _Where are you guys?_

Conan pushed through the crowd, trying desperately to squeeze in between the onlookers with his tiny body. Conan had heard the scream and located the body in the fountain through a window in the stairwell. He had raced out of the building and, after eluding Ran, passed by her unnoticed into the crowd. Conan assumed that Heiji had previously perceived the piercing shriek, and was already on the scene, possibly with the Inspector. Though he did not see the murderer, he had a pretty good idea of who the main suspect was.

Conan didn't know how far he was from the fountain. He paused and jumped up to try and see over the heads of the people in front of him. Conan saw what he believed was the top of Heiji's head, and scrambled through the crowd towards him. He wriggled through the last couple bystanders.

"Hattori! Finally I found you!"

Heiji turned to see Conan coming up. "Finally! Where have you been? And you let Kid get away---again!" he retorted. Conan glared back.

---

Renee Thomas looked up at the crowd she passed, raising an eyebrow as she tried to decipher the signs. "...Kaitou Kid?" she muttered to herself, blinking a little more as she marked her place in the characteristically large novel. She looked around, blinking some more. Her natural curiosity was getting the better of her. She hated the general crowd at large knowing more than her!

"Sumimasen," she asked a particularly tanned member of the crowd. "Who is this...Kaitou Kid?" she asked, gripping her book nervously. She did not notice what was going on, apparently. _I am randomly nervous. Do I know why? Yeah, it's because this is about the first time I talked to anyone, in Japanese, without them knowing I was American first. I really hope I didn't screw that up..._

Heiji turned to see a foreign looking girl. He was surprised that she had a slight accent in her voice but not bad in language. He rubbed his chin. "Well, Kaitou Kid is just a thief who does magic and stumps the police with puzzles. You don't know who he is? It seems to me everyone in Japan knows him. Oh, and excuse me, you might like to move away because a murder was committed here."

Renee actually took that moment to take in her surroundings. "...S-so I am..." she muttered in English, taking a few wary steps back. _Thank goodness I have a strong stomach._ "T-tha-thank you..." Again, English. "Er...Arigatou gozaimasu..." she shuddered. Heiji shrugged.

_There_. Kazuha lowered the cell phone from her eyes. The police were coming, but she still had no idea where the ones she was looking for were. _"Ran-chan! Conan-kun!_ Are you there?!" she called, going back near the thick of the crowd. She edged around it, and the fountain, when she noticed Conan.

_Well...I guess that leaves Ran-chan_. She dialed her friend's number on the cell phone.

Heiji bent down so that he was level with Conan's height. "The police are too slow, I'm going to get the body out first," he whispered, taking off his jacket. Using it to cover his arms, he reached into the bloody water and heaved the corpse out of it. He grunted as he finally laid it on the ground.

"This guy is heavy," he commented, tossing away his bloody jacket. He did a search on the body and found a wallet. It contained little money and the victim's ID. He studied it, and learned that the victim was a third-year in high school named Mitsui Hirota. "Hmm...does anyone know this guy?" he asked aloud, pointing at the shocked motionless face of the body.

_Briiiinnng, brrinnnnggg._ Kazuha bit her tongue, impatient. The phone continued to ring, but no one answered. Lifting the phone from her ear, she decided that maybe sending a text message would be better.

_Ran-chan, where did you go? Could you meet me at the bench near the fountain? A murder just happened, and I don't really want to be alone with the boys. Conan-kun's there, if you're looking for him. Bye please come A.S.A.P._

And yet again, she closed her phone, automatically exiting out of whatever she was doing. She sat down on a bench waiting, and watching Heiji, whenever the crowd let her.

While Heiji questioned the crowd for witnesses and/or friends or relations of the victim, Conan examined the body. He was a burly guy, wearing a polo shirt and some khaki shorts. Heiji had placed him on the ground in much the same position as he was in the fountain---on his stomach, but his head was turned to the left.

_His face registered shock, so the murderer probably caught him by surprise_, thought Conan. Although he did not see the wounds themselves, it was easy to conclude that the victim had been stabbed in the back multiple times due to the slashes in the shirt and the newly flowing blood coming from them.

Then Conan noticed something odd on the ground near the fountain. He was reaching out to pick it up when he felt a pull at the back of his collar and was swiftly lifted off the ground. "H-hey!"

Hearing Conan shouting, Heiji turned to see Nakamori-keibu holding Conan off the ground and looking mad. "What are you doing here, little boy? What happened? Where's Kid?!" he demanded.

"Why don't you stop thinking about Kid for once? Someone was murdered," Heiji told him off.

Nakamori-keibu finally took notice and looked around. His face had turned very red---not of embarrassment, but of anger. "It's Kid!" he roared. "He's finally got the guts to murder!"

Heiji blinked. "You're out of your mind," he muttered.

---

"An hour passed already?! Uuusssooo!"

Ran had scrambled for her phone in the thick of the crowd when it rang (after which she saw the time). While it explained where Conan was, it didn't entirely explain what was happening.

"Sumimasen!" Ran repeated, pushing and slipping through the mass.


	3. Part 3

**Part 3**

Elizabeth Green was confused. She had been in the crowd when Kid had gotten away. She was new to Japan, so she did not know why a thief would announce what they were going to steal to the police and when he was going to steal it.

She was being pushed by some of the people in the crowd. "How rude," she muttered in English. "Excuse me, what's going on here?" she asked the tan boy with the cap she saw by the fountain. There was a child and what looked like a police officer there as well. "Who was that thief? And..." She trailed off as she noticed the body. She screamed, backing up and bumping into a stranger. "Sumimasen!" she said, bowing to the Japanese girl frantically. "I wasn't watching where I was going, the body scared me," she said in Japanese.

She turned back to see what the boy had to say, hoping her Japanese wasn't too bad. She had never had to talk like this with a Japanese person and she was fresh out of high school with only two years of high school Japanese and a summer term at the community college. She adjusted her glasses, which was something she would do when she was nervous.

Heiji frowned. _Another foreign girl?_ He was about the open his mouth to reply when Nakamori-keibu jumped in after dropping Conan. "You saw Kid?!" he demanded. Apparently, he didn't hear the first part of her words.

"She did not see Kid, Inspector," Heiji told him with a frown, pushing him away from the girl. To Elizabeth, he explained, "That thief is Kid. Don't mind about him, he's just a common show-off. And please, everyone, don't go near the body until the police have arrived." _Obviously you aren't going to do anything about it_, he thought grudgingly as he side-glanced at Nakamori-keibu, who seemed to be questioning everyone in the crowd for Kid.

Heiji noticed that Conan was back on the floor and picking up something. "What do you have there, Kudo?" he asked.

---

"Argh, darn it! I know it already, I'm late, I'm late!" the blonde teen cursed herself, sitting impatiently in the back seat of a taxi. Suzuki Sonoko growled, constantly looking out the windows to see what was going on. Traffic was bad, and this car was getting nowhere. "Forget it, I can walk from here, sir!" She forked over a bit of cash. "Keep the change."

Pushing the door open, she rushed out of the car and down the street, going where the huge but thinning crowd was. "Darn it! If I missed seeing Kid again, I'll---ooh! Curse my sister for telling me about this so late!"

Sonoko pushed into the crowd, in a hurry to locate her friend Ran, whom she knew was around here. The point of interest seemed to be at the center; why was everyone crowding around there? Over somebody's shoulder, she spotted Conan. If Conan was here, Ran was definitely nearby!

"Oy! Chibi-chan!" The child looked up sourly; there was only one person who called him that. _Oooh! That tanned-skin guy is here too!_ Sonoko thought gleefully. "Hey, kid, where's---oh my..." Sonoko stopped short, noticing the corpse.

Conan turned from Sonoko to look at Heiji after examining the object he had picked up with his handkerchief. "It's a Joker, from a deck of cards," he said matter-of-factly. Heiji took the card from Conan's hand and studied it himself. "My initial thought was that someone is trying to frame Kid, because usually he leaves no evidence of his thieveries, but then I noticed that it was the same type of card he uses. Still, Kid isn't the type of guy to misplace his belongings," explained Conan. Heiji nodded, agreeing with him.

Nakamori-keibu ran up behind him and swiftly grabbed the card from Heiji, apparently thinking that he had proof of Kid's involvement in the crime. "I knew it! Kid is the murderer!" he bellowed, and everyone around him gasped.

Heiji snatched the card back, looking annoyed. "Kid is NOT the murderer," he retorted. "Don't jump to conclusion!"

"This is hard evidence, and I'm not jumping to conclusion!" Nakamori-keibu snapped, taking the card again.

"Anyone could have taken a card from some deck and put it there!" Heiji tried to snatch it again. They ended up pulling at both ends, until---

_RRRIIIIIIIIIIPPPP!_

Both of them including Conan, who was narrow-eyed, stared at the torn cards. "Oops."

---

"See, I told you you'd be blamed," Christie told Kid, after listening to the commotion outside for a while. She had managed to convince Kid that she thought he was innocent, but that the police would blame him. "Don't worry, we'll catch the real killer." Once again, she grabbed at the thief's hand, only to discover it was no longer there.

_Whew, that was close_, Kid thought as he struggled through the crowd after swiftly changing into his old look---Kuroba Kaito, in normal jeans, shirt and cap. But his hand continued to bleed, and it hurt. He wrapped a handkerchief around it and made sure it was secure. He could see Christie not far behind trying to look for him. _Sorry, but I have to do this alone_, he thought as he ran towards where he thought the murder occurred. He stopped very fast when he saw Inspector Nakamori. He stood near the edge of the crowd, his cap lowered so that the inspector would not spot him.

_Isn't that mine?_ he thought in surprise when he recognized the card in their hands. _I've been looking all over for it since the last theft. I only used the cards to shake off the police, but they disappeared after the trick. Hey!_ He watched in shock as the card got ripped. _That was my favorite! Darn, I'll have to get a new deck_.

---

Sonoko could not decide whether to look away or to keep staring; her sight kept on shifting between the now-dead person that lay on the hard pavement and out into the crowd in attempt to drown out the thoughts.

"K-Kid?" she stuttered. "N-no, Kid doesn't kill...he wouldn't kill! Would he...?"

She eyed the Osaka-jin and Inspector Nakamori arguing over the possible murderer, ripping what little evidence there was in half.

"You two, cut it out!" Sonoko barked, managing to cough up a bit of courage. "This isn't getting anywhere with you two bickering...and Ran---where's Ran-chan?!"

"Sonoko-chan! Hattori-kun!" Ran shouted, running in their direction. Leaning forward with her hands on her knees, she caught her breath. Then she rushed up to Conan. "Conan-kun, stop making me worried! Oh!" She stopped short when she saw the dead body. _Not again._

Heiji did not hear Sonoko or Ran as he was too busy glaring at Nakamori-keibu. "Look what you did!" the inspector bellowed angrily. "You ripped the evidence in half! I will arrest you for that!"

Heiji rolled his eyes. "It's not all my fault! You're the one who's out of your mind!"

"I'm not out of my mind, you are! Wait, you must be Kid in disguise! You must have purposely did this to clear your name! Don't think you can trick me!" Nakamori-keibu wrapped an arm around Heiji's throat and pinched his face, pulling it. Heiji exclaimed in surprise, trying to push Nakamori-keibu off him.

Meanwhile, Kaito was watching in amusement. "What an idiot," he snickered. "He doesn't even know that I'm right here."

"Sonoko-chan? You're here too?" Kazuha blinked, having taken the liberty to (or was going to) deliver the coffee she bought. _Ahou_, she thought, berating herself. The heist..._of course, why the heck else would she be here?_

Smiling slightly (though a bit wryly), she handed over a coffee to Sonoko, as well as one for Ran.

"T-thank you, Kazuha-chan..." Sonoko bowed her head gently, taking the coffee into her hands. _Just what I needed...but I don't like this---I don't like this at all! Kid would never kill! I don't care if I don't know him personally!_

She shivered, trying her best to keep her thoughts away from the murder. Sonoko did not like to see anyone dead, much less the sight of blood---not at all.

Glancing around in the crowds, she noticed a teenaged boy, who looked to be about her age. Even under the hat he was wearing, she could still notice the wild brown hair that stuck out underneath it. _He...his face...he almost looks like Kid! I'm crazy. Kid wouldn't come on right back down here. Not after this._ She sighed, taking a sip of her warm coffee.

"Goodness," someone murmured. It was a teenager dressed up like Sherlock Holmes, pacing around with his trusty hawk perched on his shoulder. "It's no use fighting over a piece of evidence that had been tarnished for at least four minutes, fifty-five seconds, twenty-three centiseconds, twenty-nine milliseconds, and seventeen nanoseconds. You people have been fighting for two minutes, twenty-nine seconds, forty-seven centiseconds, thirty-nine milliseconds, and nine---no, make that ten nanoseconds." He clicked his British-looking pocket watch shut and replaced it back into his pocket.

The mad brawl temporarily stopped. Nakamori-keibu frowned. "And just what are YOU doing here? I've had enough with high school detectives, you know!"

"Then how about an FBI agent?" asked a feminine voice in English, appearing suddenly from behind the tall half-British boy.

Sonoko continued to look around, then suddenly--- "What?" Sonoko cried. "Ran-chan, look! It's Jodie-sensei!"

Jodie was busy talking to Nakamori-keibu, and then winked at her former students. She rippled her fingers in a quick, shy wave. "Oh, Sonoko! Hello!"

Ran looked where Sonoko was pointing and saw Jodie-sensei waving. She laughed and waved back---it seemed like everyone had turned up to see the Kid's heist---and now apparent homicide. Ran just could not believe it of Kid, though. He was not a murderer, she didn't think. Conan did not think so, either, after all, or so it seemed.


	4. Part 4

**Part 4**

"Hey, hey!" cried Keiko, jabbing Nakamori Aoko in the arm. "Did you hear what happened? Kid's accused for murder!"

Aoko's expression twisted into one of anger. "I knew that Kid was no good. He's probably going to keep Otoo-san up all night about this!"

Koizumi Akako happened to be nearby. She pretended that she hadn't been eavesdropping and frowned to herself.

_Kid? Murdering someone? That's...Kuroba would never do that..._

---

Meanwhile, Kaito was getting more amused by the second. "Well, seems like everyone's here, even that no-use time-crazy Hakuba. An FBI agent too! Interesting!"

"Inspector, I found a knife!" Kaito turned to see a police officer running up, holding a bag containing a bloody knife carefully. He instantly recognized it as the one he had thrown down. _Uh oh, I didn't leave any fingerprint, did I?_ he thought in shock. _Wait, I was wearing gloves_, he remembered in relief.

Nakamori-keibu took the bag rather roughly. "Where did you find this?" he demanded.

"There, sir!" the officer said, pointing somewhere into the crowd. "It was on the floor!"

"This is definitely Kid's!" Nakamori-keibu shouted. "I'm going to arrest him!"

"That doesn't prove anything," Heiji drawled. He turned to the half-British boy. "And who are you?"

The smug smile passed on the half-British detective's face, even as the ridiculous unfashionable Holmes hat hid part of his face. "Detective Hakuba Saguru. Pleased to meet you." He turned and saw Ran and Conan. "We meet again, Ran-san. Conan-kun."

Hakuba strolled past Ran and towards Sonoko and Kazuha. A bright red Sonoko almost dropped her beverage. She practically melted into a puddle. "I haven't seen your around here before," the detective stated as a matter-of-factly.

"You okay, Sonoko-chan?" Kazuha attempted to steady her with a hand, as her other one was still holding the half-full paper cup. She cast a brief annoyed look at the detective standing in front of her. "My name is Tohyama Kazuha. Hajimemashite," she said simply with a bow.

"GET THESE TWERPS OUT OF MY FACE!" cried Nakamori-keibu, still infuriated with Heiji for the card-ripping fight. "These inexperienced brats are nothing but trouble!"

Jodie chuckled. "Maybe we should have them keep an eye out for anything suspicious. It's not like they'll do it again anyway...and besides, kids will be kids." Her last remark was in English, and Nakamori-keibu raised an eyebrow.

"Kids will be kids," repeated Jodie, this time in Japanese.

---

Kaito had raised an eyebrow when he saw Sonoko glancing at him for a moment. _Uh oh, she better not recognize me. But why should I worry? It's not like anyone know I'm Kid_, he thought with a laugh. _Oh, Inspector, you better not stress out_, he teased silently.

"Kaito!"

Kaito jumped when a hand slapped down on his shoulder. He turned, glaring. "Aoko, I told you to go home!"

"Why should I listen to you?" Aoko retorted. She saw his wrapped hand with some blood on it. She gasped, grabbing it. "What happened to you?" Before Kaito could stop her, she unwrapped it and saw an open wound from a knife. "How did you get hurt? Look at you!"

From a distance, Akako watched closely. _Be careful, Kuroba..._

She slipped away from the gathering crowd at the crime scene.

---

Meanwhile, Hakuba grinned sheepishly at Kazuha. "180 cm, born August 29, with the blood type A of I have never met anyone as divine as you. The name is Saguru. Hakuba Saguru." He gently kissed Kazuha's hand.

Kazuha twitched. Her eyes were wide in confusion. Her mouth opened to speak, but she was not sure what to say. She flushed slightly, quickly removing her hand from Hakuba's reach, holding it idly near the opposite shoulder. Ran was startled as well and blushed almost as much as Kazuha when Hakuba stated her measurements. Meanwhile, she backpedaled slightly.

Heiji glared as Hakuba kissed Kazuha's hand. He had forgotten about everything else. After all, he did like Kazuha---he just did not want to admit it. But this was not the time to pretend. "Back off, Hakuba," he growled, stepping in between Hakuba and Kazuha facing the half-British boy. "Kazuha does not belong to you."

Kazuha blinked in surprise when Heiji pushed her away from Hakuba. Mentally, she was quite grateful for that action, almost silently thanking him for doing so. She smiled. "T-thank you, Hakuba-san, but...I'm taken."

Ran blinked when Kazuha said she was taken. Narrowing her eyes in amusement, she grinned at Kazuha. "Are you saying you're going out with Hattori-kun for sure?" she asked slyly.

Kazuha paused, her mind taking in her friend's question. "Eh?! Wh-what do you mean, Ran-chan?! Of course not, of course not! Why would I go out with that idiot?!" She was blushing all the while during her rant. Finally, her rant rolled down to a slower pace, her eyes narrowing, glancing to the side. "Geez...I mean, really..."

Ran laughed at Kazuha's expression. "I'm sorry," she said a little breathlessly. "I didn't mean..." Only she did mean it, and she swallowed her words with a giggle. Only it made her a little nostalgic for Shinichi again, though---but it was much the Kid heist and the murder as anything else, she reflected. Shinichi would have excelled here.

Meanwhile, Heiji had turned so red that it was visible from afar even with his tanned skin. He had heard every word of it. "ANYWAY," he said very loudly, coughing slightly as he walked over to Nakamori-keibu, "shouldn't we get back to the crime?" He snatched the weapon from the inspector and walked over to a lamp post to examine it.

"Hey!" Nakamori-keibu shouted angrily. "Give that back, you---"

"Otou-san!" Nakamori-keibu turned to see Aoko running out, pulling Kaito with her. "What are you doing here?! Go home!" he roared furiously.

"You're so hot-tempered," Aoko retorted. Kaito was trying to struggle away, looking around anxiously.


	5. Part 5

**Part 5**

The child scientist sat in the oversized chair, staring expressionless at the television screen. Turned on to one of the local news channel, she knew who was attending the infamous Kaitou Kid's lasted heist. She wasn't quite as interested in the heist itself, but more or less wanted to know what a _certain_ detective and his companions were up to; Haibara Ai was not the scientist she was if that little fiasco wasn't going to appear for at least five minutes.

The elder scientist fell asleep well over an hour ago---he couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to see what had happened.

Expressionless soon became wide-eyed as she saw what was on the television.

"...Kid murdered someone? My, my," Ai said softly. "That just doesn't seem right..."

Ai continued to stare with more interest as the news reporter took over the screen and quickly went through the current events.

---

"Aoko, do you realize that you're standing over a dead body?" Kaito muttered. Aoko looked down, and immediately turned pale. She took a couple of steps back, gripping Kaito's hand harder. "Oww!" he could not help yelling.

Aoko turned in surprise. "Gomen nasai!" she exclaimed, picking up his bleeding hand. "Are you okay?"

Inspector Nakamori leaned over to see too. "What happened to you? It looks like you got cut by something."

Kaito immediately realized that some of the people were looking at him already. "Uh, uh...I got cut by a tree branch," he bluffed with a stupid laugh.

Just then, he felt someone pulling his hand down. He looked down and saw Conan. "This is a clean cut, it doesn't look like a cut from the tree branch," the boy said, examining it.

_This kid again!_ Kaito thought in frustration. "Okay, it was not a branch, it was, er..." He almost said 'card', but he remembered that there was an evidence of it. "...paper cut."

Conan still looked suspicious. "A paper cut?" he asked, his voice still touching his higher tones. "What kind of paper was it, Oniisan?"

The young detective's eyes traveled up to Kaito's face. The features were familiar, like he had seen him on some mirror before...or some person. _No way._ His eyes widened slightly, taking in what he was seeing. _No way...that this person...this guy...looks like ME._

Kaito felt uncomfortable with Conan staring at him like that. He quickly pulled away, looking quite annoyed. "How many kind of paper cuts are there?" he retorted. "It's none of your business."

Kaito's movement snapped Conan back to reality. His eyes held a thoughtfulness that was rather child-like, if not for his still form. Then they narrowed, eyeing Kaito briefly with slight suspicion. _No conclusion jumping. Bit too early for that_. The boy surveyed the scene once again, hoping to catch something he might have missed. _Though he did seem a bit too eager to get away from me...or our group, for that matter._

Meanwhile, Heiji was frustrated because he could not find anything fishy about the knife. It was like any other kitchen knife and nothing strange about the blood on it either. _This is the hardest yet,_ he thought as he walked back to the others. _How are we going to find the murderer? There are millions of people here and he might have run off..._ He stopped in surprise when he saw Kaito. _K-Kudo?!_ He looked down at Conan, and then back at Kaito. He shook his head. _I must be hallucinating. They just looked the same._ He turned away.

Quickly glancing Heiji's way, as well as the faces of everyone else to make sure they were preoccupied, Conan dashed to the other side of the fountain to look for more clues.

Kaito was relieved that Conan was gone. _I think I better get out of here as soon as possible_, he thought. "Aoko, I think we should go," he said.

"No, I want to stay," Aoko replied matter-of-factly. _Stubborn girl,_ Kaito thought in annoyance.

"I'm not staying, come on," Kaito said, starting to drag Aoko. Suddenly, he accidentally tripped over the dead body. He quickly lifted a leg to avoid falling on it, and he managed not to step on it. Unfortunately, he still couldn't keep his balance, and stumbled for the fountain. "ACK!" he screeched when he saw that he was going to fall into the bloody fountain. Fortunately, he slipped on some water under his shoes and fell just before he reached the fountain. But it still hurt when he fell on the floor---just like falling on ice. Only harder. "OWWWW!"

"Kaito! Are you okay?" Aoko exclaimed, helping him up. Kaito rubbed his head in pain as he stood up._ That was close. I hope the jewel is still---_ He felt around his pocket, and his eyes widened. _NOT HERE?!_

---

At home, Akako quickly headed down to the basement. Her servant bowed politely and commented, "Afternoon, Miss. You look lovely as usual."

Akako flung a strand over her shoulder and retorted, "You're ugly, as usual."

No time for insulting her servant. She frantically reached out for her crystal ball and confronted it. Waving her hands mystically around the sphere, she murmured a spell and gently asked it, "Who was the person who framed Kuroba Kaito?"

The crystal ball was dark. Akako frowned and conked it.

First, there was a vague figure. The witch squinted and stared into the ball until the figure was uncovered.

"Th-this...this is..."


	6. Part 6

**Part 6**

Hearing the racket, Conan paused slightly, glancing back with a sweat drop at Kaito, being on the opposite side of the fountain from everyone else.

Then he heard something hard skidding across the ground. Something shiny caught his eyes, just barely disappearing out of his view. _You've got to be kidding me,_ the young boy thought, following from where the sparkle left off.

Kazuha seemed to have noticed as well, only she did not really know what it was, only that it suddenly glared in her eyes, before abruptly fading straight after. She passed it off as a camera flash, not really bothering to look because of the corpse.

_Oh no, where is it?!_ Kaito thought, looking around frantically. _I'll be dead if someone finds it first!_

"Are you looking for something, Kaito?" Aoko asked, noticing him.

_Oh no, I can't let her know either? What to do? What to do?_ "I lost my watch," he bluffed, putting his hand into his pocket so that he could hide his actual watch. He only hoped Aoko did not know. "Help me find it."

Aoko looked confused, but she did anyway---away from the corpse. Kaito sighed in relief and returned to his search.

Heiji watched Kaito and Aoko with narrowed eyes. _What are they up to anyway?_ he thought. Then he saw a glint somewhere not far from the scene. Curious, he followed it to the bush---and found the necklace that was stolen from the building. _Nani?! It's---it's impossible!_ he thought in shock. _But---but Kid can't be the murderer_, Heiji thought, biting his lip. _What am I going to do? I guess I better keep it until we're clear of this..._ Pocketing the jewel, he turned around, and stumbled back slightly in surprise when he saw Conan there. "W-what are you doing here, Kudo?" he hissed.

Conan lifted his eyebrows. He had been wondering whether Heiji had found anything. "What are YOU doing back there?" he countered.

"Nothing, Heiji muttered, walking towards the fountain. "Back to the case..."

Kaito, who was still searching for the jewel in frantic, noticed Heiji pocketing something as he walked over. _Oh no, did he find it?_ he thought desperately. _This is bad...I need to get it back somehow. But I will have to use magic---and attract all these stupid detectives. Well, Nakamori-keibu knows I ain't Kid...and I don't have to say anything about Hakuba,_ he thought, narrowing his eyes at the half-British boy.

_Wait a minute! I forgot about that..._ He looked up at the building where he had come from, and smiled. _Perfect._

"Kaito, forget it, let's just go!" Aoko said impatiently, tugging his sleeve.

On her way and past the fountain, Sonoko spotted Kaito looking around, Aoko nearby trying to drag him off. _Holy cow---now that I look at him better, he looks like Shinichi! Talk about weird. Why's he nervous now? Eh, no matter._ She continued off.

_Darn, I can't do anything if more people focus on me_, thought Kaito as he glanced at the building. He noticed Sonoko, who had glanced at him before walking him. _Hey, isn't that Suzuki-san? Hmm, wonder if she had anything..._

"You're an idiot!" Aoko shouted. "Come _on_, Kaito, you're the one who said you wanted to go home!"

Kaito snapped to her. "Who're you calling an idiot, idiot?" Kaito retorted. "If you help me looking for my watch, we'll go!" _Ah, found it!_ He thought when he finally felt the remote in his pocket. He pressed on the button.

A white figure suddenly appeared at the top of the building, a balloon over it. "It's Kid!" someone shouted, pointing. Everyone's attention turned on it, including Aoko's.

Kaito pulled out a little microphone quickly. "I have stolen the necklace!" he whispered into it, and his voice came out from the figure floating in the air. "See you, Inspector!"

Nakamori-keibu looked furious. "There's Kid! GET HIM!!!" he ordered.

All the police including Nakamori-keibu started to run towards the building. Kaito dropped something, and it burst, smoke enveloping around the fountain. _Now to get the jewel,_ he thought with a snicker as he sneaked towards where Heiji was. _Easy!_

He started to reach for Heiji's pocket. That was when a tanned hand grabbed his hand. _Wha---did he notice?!_ he thought in shock.

When the smoke covered them, Heiji knew what was going on. _Kid! He's somewhere here!_ he thought. Then he saw a hand reaching for his pocket, and grabbed it. "Got you!" he hissed in triumph, and started to drag him away from the smoke. "I'm going to see your face---eh?"

He stared blankly at the fake arm. "What the---"

_That was close,_ Kaito thought with a sigh of relief as he stood only two feet from Heiji. The smoke wasn't going to hang around longer, and who knew when they would figure out that it was a dummy floating up there. A helicopter had started to head for it. He had to work fast. He sneaked towards Heiji again, cut a hole in his pocket with a knife, and snagged the necklace that fell out of it. _Good! Now to get out of---_

Another scream filled the air. Heiji spun around so fast that his knee hit something.

"Owww!" Two more cries had come from---Heiji and Kaito.

Heiji looked down in surprise. "Wha---"But no one was there. He saw a small figure running off, and immediately recognized it as Conan. "H-hey, wait up, Kudo!" he shouted, running after him.

After a while, they both stopped in horror when they saw a girl on the floor, looking very pale and screaming. Not far from her was a body---with blood all over.

---

Kaito rubbed his nose painfully as he hid himself behind a tree not far from where he stole the necklace again. _Ugh, just my luck. But I got the jewel back anyway. Maybe I should get Chi-i to return it for me. Now, what's all the commotion about?_ he wondered, pocketing the necklace once again. He rushed to the direction where the scream came from. He hid just behind the tree and took a peek. He gasped. _Another murder?!_

---

Heiji bent down by the body to inspect it. "Stabs into the body," he murmured, "just like the one in the fountain. The murderer is still around."

"B-but why...?" the girl sobbed. "Akira didn't do anything wrong..."

"You know him?" Heiji asked.

The girl nodded. "He's my boyfriend."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"I don't know, he said he was going to get me some ice cream. I was looking at Kid, but then I heard some noise. When I turned, Akira's body was there, and---and---I saw someone in white running off there."

_You've got to be kidding me!_ Heiji thought in shock. "Are you sure it was white?" he demanded. The girl nodded.

Kaito was listening to the conversation nearby. _Someone's trying to frame me,_ he thought. _The truth is, if I were a murderer, I would not be caught dead in Kid's white suit. I have to find the real murderer, or I'll never be Kid again!_ He took off to the direction where the girl had pointed, hoping that he could gather some clue.

Meanwhile, Conan was shaking his head. _Who would murder in white especially at night? I mean, seriously..._ He sighed internally. _Even if this IS supposedly Kid we're dealing with..._

He heard a rustle, and glanced into the direction of it. _It's like painting 'I'm trying to frame someone' in big, bold letters...not that I can let YOU off the hook yet, Kaitou Kid!_

Without any second thought, he ran to the same direction Kaito had disappeared to, hoping to find more clues. Heiji, who was pondering over the dead body, was surprised by his sudden move. "Hey, Kudo!" he shouted, but Conan was gone. _Looks like I'm left to solve this_, he thought with a sigh.


	7. Part 7

**Part 7**

Nakamori-keibu was furious when he got the message that the Kid in the air was a dummy. "IDIOTS!" he bellowed as he stormed back to the fountain. "I'M DEALING WITH IDIOTS!"

Aoko was watching him with narrowed eyes, feeling that her father was embarrassing her that way. Then she realized that Kaito had disappeared. "Kaito?! Kaito, where are you?" she called, looking around.

---

_Hmm...the size of the body looks roughly the same as the other. I wonder._ "Excuse me, do you know who Mitsui Hirota is?" he asked the girl, referring to the first victim.

"Mitsui Hirota? He's on the track team with Akira," the girl replied in surprise.

"Really? Was there any odd thing in the past that involved both of them?" Heiji asked.

"Well...there was something that happened a year ago. I heard that a runner died in a car accident. I think his name was Yota, who used to be Akira's mate too. I don't really know how it happened, and I only started dating Akira two months ago."

_Then it must have something to do with that,_ Heiji thought. _Oh, come on, this is Tokyo, I don't really know what's happening here. Where's Kudo when I need him?_

---

Hakuba impatiently clicked his pocket watch open, and close. Open, and close. He had told them that the Kid floating in the air was a fake, but since Nakamori was apparently on a higher rank, they listened, instead, to him.

Someone was trying to frame Kid. He knew that much. He knew he should not jump to conclusion (which he was, though he knew he had to be right), but how many heists has it been already? Why start murdering NOW?

He knew he had to be wrong. Kaitou never killed...

---

Kaito was panting already after running a long way. He finally halted, catching his breath. _Where did he go? This is not working!_

With amazing jumping skill, he jumped onto a branch in the tree and stayed until the branch stopped wobbling. _There, I can see better now_, he thought in satisfaction. _Eh?_ He could see Conan running in the distance. _He came too! Oh yeah, maybe if I stick with him, I'll find the criminal easier. But he runs slow_, he thought with narrowed eyes as he started to hop from tree to tree.

Then he came upon a white cloth hanging on the branch. He stopped and picked it up. _Was here, and now not anymore._ He looked up to the direction where Conan was coming from. _Hmm, I'll leave you a clue then,_ he thought with a smile as he left the cloth on the branch and jumped down. He ran some more until he arrived at the crowd again. _Right, now what should I do?_ he wondered. _Become Kid to lure the criminal? No, I'll endanger myself instead. Go home? No, I have to find out who the real murderer is..._

In the forest, Conan breathed heavily. The minus side to having a child's body again: you could not run as far or as quickly. He slowed down to a halt beside a tree, leaning against it with a hand to catch his breath.

_Looks like someone was here recently,_ he thought, idly examining his surroundings. After catching his breath, he leaped up to the nearest tree branch, swinging himself up and barely catching his balance before he fell. His mind was on the case rather than his safety.

His eyes stood transfixed on the white cloth. _Someone was here_. He glanced around, trying to look for more clues, but he found nothing. He examined the only clue left. The cloth was torn, most likely came from an article of clothing, but the torn edges did not correspond with where it current was, meaning---Conan glanced around again. _Someone moved it_.

He lifted the white cloth and examined it more closely. While it was obvious it was torn from someone's cape, it was not the silk that many people believed the Kid wore. _Feels more like cotton. Whoever was running around in this must be getting pretty hot by now._

After a double check of the scenery (noting the marks on the branch nearer to the trunk of the tree), Conan leaped down with what little evidence there was in hand. _Better get back to Hattori. Wonder if he found out anything new._ He started to head back.

---

"Kaito, you idiot! Where are you?!" Aoko shouted, walking mostly in big circles, craning her neck to see in the crowd. "KAITO!"

Kaito heard Aoko calling in the distance. _Darn, I don't have time to deal with her. Better hurry---_ "AIK!" He ran into someone immediately after he turned, and both of them fell over. It felt more painful to Kaito, considering how many he had fallen that day.

"GOMEN NASAI!" he heard a girl's voice exclaiming. He looked up to see the girl getting up, brushing herself. It was odd---she was wearing a white shirt and cream-colored pants that were slightly dirty, but a little too bright for the night.

Kaito scrambled up quickly. "Er, are you okay?" he asked. The girl nodded lightly, her head lowered. But Kaito thought she had a sad look on her face before she walked off without another word.

---

Meanwhile, Heiji was waiting for Conan. _Where did Kudo go?_ he thought in frustration. _Leaving me here to do the body examination...it's done anyway, and I even got some good clues! But now, the problem is on the whereabouts of the weapon used..._

"Any leads?" Conan stood near the body, right across from where Heiji was. His eyes quickly ran over it, examining it himself.

Heiji looked up. "There you are. Well, the murders connected somehow. Both victims were on the track team in high school, and a year ago, one of their mates died in a car accident. I believe there's a connection with it, but the problems with solving this case are, we can't find the weapon and there're like millions of people out there."

"Connected?" Conan idly wondered what in the world two track team members had to do with Kaitou Kid's heist---but clues were clues. "I see...and while we're here..." He brought out the white cloth he picked up earlier, handing it over to Heiji. "What do you think of this?"

Heiji took the cloth and examined it. "Hmm, looks like what Kid wears on the outside, only dirtier. But it's still impossible that Kid is the murderer," he said. "You found this in the forest?"

Conan nodded. "It was on a high branch. But someone, I'm guessing the framed person himself, moved it. As for the weapon, it's probably still on the person. The weapon found at the first crime scene was a knife, right? Is it still there?"

"It's at that stupid Inspector's," Heiji replied with a sigh. "But I don't see anything odd about it. Er, sumimasen," he called to the girl who was still standing not far from them. "Can you tell us more about the accident a year ago, if possible? We need every little detail of it."

The girl looked thoughtful. "Well, I heard that it somehow involved Akira and Mitsui, but I don't know how. Some students accused them, and there was also this one girl who broke down because Yota was her boyfriend, but I don't know what happened after that."

"Just like that?" Heiji scratched his head in frustration. "Okay, so it did involve the two victims..."


	8. Part 8

**Part 8**

Akako found herself searching high and low for Kaito, swishing around on her broomstick. Normally she wouldn't do this in front of a crowd, but if Kaito were caught, then...

"Where is he?" she muttered to herself. She knew who the person who framed Kaito was...

---

"KAITO!"

Kaito turned, hearing Aoko calling him again. This time, she was heading towards his direction. _Oh no, I can't go now! Hey, wait...a disguise!_ he thought triumphantly, pleased with himself for thinking that up. He ran behind a tree, and in a second appeared again looking like a boy with blonde hair and thin face. He had a black jacket over his shirt and black shoes instead of his sneakers. He grinned as Aoko did not even glance at him as she passed. _I stumped her! Now to find that girl._

He searched in the crowd for ten minutes until he finally spotted the girl (it wasn't hard to find someone in white at night, after all). She had entered the forest again. _What is she doing there? Going back for the cloth?_

He followed the girl into the deep forest. She looked as if she was searching for something. Kaito took a step and heard a soft crunch. He started, but luckily, the girl did not notice. He lifted his foot and saw a locket. He picked it up and opened it. His eyes widened.

Suddenly, the girl burst into tears when she was at the edge of the forest. "I-I'm sorry, Yota! I've gotten revenge for you and framed Kid for it, but I've lost the treasure! I-I didn't mean to! If they find out that I-I'm a murderer..."

"So, you ARE the murderer."

The girl turned in shock and saw Kid standing perfectly balanced on the street lamp. "K-Kid!" she blurted as he jumped off and landed on the path. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't want to frame you, but I had no choice! I-I chose today because people will be focused on you and not me, but I-I didn't think of framing you until I had to destroy the evidence, and I saw you so I just pushed the knife to you! I'm really, really sorry! Please don't tell the police!" she pleaded, tears rushing down her cheeks.

Kid felt sympathetic, but he knew he had to do the right thing. "I'm sorry, but you have to turn yourself in," he said softly. "Come on." He walked towards her, a hand reached out.

The girl bit her lip. With a wild cry, she pulled out a bloody knife from her purse and swung it at Kid. He retreated, but was not quick enough. The knife slashed his left arm, and blood started to flow. He cringed, grasping it. "Wait, don't---" He tried to say, but it was hard to talk when he had to avoid the girl's knife.

Suddenly, he tripped and fell. The girl started to head for him. He whipped out his gun and fired. A card knocked the knife out of her hand---just when they heard the police's shouts. The girl turned and ran off. Kid tried to get up, but his arm hurt too much and he was getting slightly dizzy.

Christie, thinking that it was best not to be around when they finally took care of the problem, had retreated through the woods, ready to go home. But she was surprised to hear her darling Kid's voice. She heard every word of it.

She ran towards the sound and got to where they were in time to see the girl running in her direction. Like a batter at the plate, she once again swung her sign, this time at the killer. "NO ONE FRAMES MY KID!"

The girl stopped short when she came face to face with Christie, surprised. "Wh-who are you? Get out of my way!"

---

Sonoko paused. Odd...she heard something beyond the commotion, almost like a popping sound. It sounded familiar. She looked around, hoping that it was not just her imagination. "Ran-chan? Renee-san?" Sonoko nudged an elbow at Ran. "Did you two hear that?"

Renee lifted an eyebrow, staring at the blonde teen in confusion. Ran put her hand to her chin, thinking. "I...think I did."

Sonoko pointed off the street, where a bundle of trees started. "From over there---right? We should probably check it out."

---

At the second murder scene, the victim's girlfriend looked thoughtful for a second before pointing into the forest in surprise. "Hey, it looks like that girl!"

Heiji turned, and saw two girls, one holding a sign and shouting something. At the other side, he heard shouts of police. "Looks like something's happening," he muttered. "Go!"

He bolted into the forest. Conan dashed after Heiji. He had seen her as well. White clothing...how could he have missed it?

---

The detective in his Holmes outfit raced through the woods, having picked up a certain trail. He knew where the thief was headed; but followed at a more sedate pace, for the sake of keeping his presence low.

Then he saw it. Crossing his arms and leaning again a tree a bit more in the open, Hakuba gave the injured Kid a miffed look. "I see that your attempt to clear your name didn't go too well." Handcuffs rang idly in the teenage detective's pocket, but he made no move to take them out. Nor did he close in---he gave the Kaitou a wide berth.

Kid managed to drag his injured arm up, grimacing in deep pain. He turned, seeing Hakuba. He laughed coldly. "Apparently it didn't." He tried to think of a way to escape, but he could not do much with an injured arm. _Darn it, is this the end of Kid?_ He looked at Hakuba calmly. "Well, aren't you going to arrest me or something?" he muttered.

Hakuba leaned back a bit more, as though he were there for simply hours. The handcuffs rattled slightly as he took something else out from his pocket. _Click, click, click..._ "You have exactly 15 seconds," the detective stated as-a-matter-of-factly, "to get out of my sight."

Kid stared at him. What was he playing at? Well, it he was going to let him go, he would go. Kid started to drag himself---he swayed slightly, and tripped. He swallowed a yell as he fell partly on his arm. _Can't...move._ Gritting his teeth to stop his tears from rolling out, he got up again, resisting the pain. He put his foot down, trying to stop himself from swaying.

"Time's up." Kid started as Hakuba walked over, his handcuffs rattling as he took them out. He took Kid's right hand and cuffed him on the wrist.

---

Akako was too late. As she hovered over the forest and finally spotted Kid, she saw him handcuffed with a sneering Hakuba nearby. The little boy and Osaka detective had disappeared from view, so Akako decided to take this chance to free Kid.

She remembered the first spell she had cast on Kid in an attempt to make him her slave. That was it. She would lure Hakuba away from Kid so Kid could escape. After all, all the men in the world were her slaves---except Kid anyway.

A message only Hakuba could hear echoed in the distant sky.

_Dearest Saguru, please help me! Someone has murdered my friend!_

Hakuba looked up suddenly. "Whose...sweet voice...was that?" he muttered.

Kid looked at him with a raised eyebrow. _What voice? Wait!_ He looked up too, and thought he saw something in the distance, almost like a bird. He hid a smile. Hakuba absentmindedly let go of Kid and started to walk off, not realizing that Kid had knocked over his key that was hanging out of his pocket. Kid unlocked the handcuffs, and just as he dropped them, he winced, grasping his arm. _Ugh, I need to see a doctor. Arigatou gozaimasu, Akako._

"There! It's Kid!" Kid turned to see Inspector Nakamori leading a herd of police towards him. Kid dropped another smoke bomb, and disappeared into the forest while the police were in disarray. In a flash, he had become his old self, but he couldn't hide his wound. As he ran with a hand clutching his wound, he saw the killer ahead with Christie. On the other side, Heiji and Conan were racing towards them. _Good!_

He whipped out his card gun once more and fired. It struck the girl's purse. It dropped and everything tumbled out, including a couple of photos of the two victims that had red furious crosses on them.

_My job here is done! It's up to you now, meitantei,_ Kaito thought with satisfaction. _Time to go home. Oh yeah, I better drop Aoko a note too._ With that, the thief disappeared for the night.

**Author's Note**: _It's not the end yet! ;) There's still at least another couple of parts that are not really completed, so be patient! :D_


	9. Part 9

**Part 9**

The young murderess cried out as her purse suddenly seemed to explode. It was then that she became more aware of her surroundings. Kid was gone and the police, Heiji and Conan were closing in. Her only escape route was blocked by a Kid Otaku armed with a sign.

_They deserved to die, they had to die. I shouldn't have to pay for it. I was doing what was right!_

"Get out of my way!" she commanded Christie.

"No way!" Christie barked. "A word of advice, if you're going to do something so bad you don't want your name attached to it, DON'T DO IT! You killed two people and tried to frame my precious Kid. If they ever caught him, he'd be sent away for life, or given the death penalty. The legal system would believe a thief. I love him. Yeah, every girl loves him, but I do to. He means something to us. And I will NOT stand aside so the MURDERER who tried to frame him can escape."

"Then you leave me no choice." The girl pulled a gun from her pocket. "I didn't want to use this in a crowd, in case I hit the wrong person, but if you don't step out of my way right now..."

The only thought that crossed Christie's mind was: _Darn._

---

Inspector Nakamori, his men, the teenaged Osaka-jin detective, and the curious little child behind him suddenly rushed towards where Sonoko thought she heard the previous strange noise. She stood, staring, still trying to figure out what to do. She was not the type to sit around and watch everything happen, after all. But what? Sure, she was the second daughter of the great Suzuki family, and she had solved a crime or two in the past---supposedly, anyway---but what did that amount to right now?

"I want to see what happened---" Sonoko commented, but stopped short in her tracks when a wide range of gasps were head.

The girl in white stood, flashing around a gun in front of her. And by the look on her face, she seemed intent...

---

Breaking through the branches and bushes, Heiji peered through and saw the two girls---and one was now pointing a gun at the other. "_Uso!_ By the time we reach there, it'll be too late!" he exclaimed, clenching his teeth.

But Conan already had it covered. He clicked his belt, and a soccer ball popped out. The great force from his shoe kicked it, and it flew towards the girls in a blur, breaking branches and leaves. The gun was knocked out of the girl's hand. "NO!" she shrieked, trying to catch it. But Heiji had run over and picked it up first.

"It's over," he said firmly.

The girl fell on her knees, sobbing loudly. "I'm sorry, Yota! I-I tried! I made those murderers pay, but I...I did it for you! Please forgive me! YOTA!!!..." Her wail filled the silenced air.

Heiji looked at Conan. "Murderers?" he whispered.

"The accident a year ago," Conan replied, "they said the boy was supposedly lured off by his two friends as a joke, but somehow..."

Jodie, who was beside the loud-mouthed inspector, smiled as she viewed the action. As the police took care of locking the murderer up, she patted Conan on the back, cooing, "Good job, Cool Kid!"

Conan jumped. "It---It was a lucky shot," he said with a nervous laugh, looking up at Jodie. _How long has she been standing there?_

Heiji noticed something on the ground near the girl's purse. He picked it up and realized that it was a card. "Well, looks like Kid was the one who lighted up the truth," he said with a grin, waving it. "Not bad for a thief." He stood up, stretching. "Well, the excitement is over. Even though we haven't caught Kid yet...but he'll turn up soon enough. Time to go home...school tomorrow..." He yawned, apparently exhausted from the case.

"Come on," Kazuha said, pulling Heiji by the arm. "It's very late already. I've had enough tonight."

Conan agreed with a nod, yawning. He hurried up to Ran.

Elizabeth was silent. Nobody seemed to notice she was there. She was still standing by the group of girls, the three Japanese girls and the girl that looked like her. Elizabeth was a very shy person, so she didn't say anything to them, but she did look at them every now and then, and noticed they were all younger than she was, probably still in high school.

She looked towards the woods. It seemed that the person that framed Kid was found. Nakamori-keibu's men started to lead the murderer away.

---

_Over here! You're getting closer!_

Hakuba was stumbling as he kept following the voice. He examined his surrounding as if he were paranoid, until suddenly, Hakuba tripped over a tree stump. Rubbing his head, he realized the voice had disappeared altogether. "Wh-what happened?" His eyes suddenly lit up.

_KID!_

---

"Aoko! Have you heard?" Keiko exclaimed excitedly, running up to Aoko. "The real murderer was caught! Kid is safe! And I heard he helped to catch the murderer too! It's great, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but the heists won't stop," Aoko said with a sigh. "Well, if that what Kid wants to do---Hakuba?" she exclaimed in surprise when she saw Hakuba running out in disarray. "What happened to you?"

Hakuba didn't respond. He was panting very hard. He laughed. "Kid, even if you're not the murderer, I won't give up on you! You have my word!" Aoko and Keiko looked at him as if he was crazy as some reporters ran up to Hakuba for an interview.

**END**

**Author's Note:** That's all! A sequel will be coming up soon, look forward to it! ;)


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